معرفی
David M Sobel is a Professor of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences in the Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences at Brown University. He completed his undergraduate work at Swarthmore College in Psychology and Computer Science and earned his PhD in Cognitive and Developmental Psychology from UC Berkeley in 2001.
Dr. Sobel's academic journey includes significant contributions to understanding children's cognitive processes. His research focuses on how children represent and learn causal relations and understand others' mental states. Key areas of investigation include:
- Causal reasoning in children
- Theory of mind development
- Selective social learning mechanisms
- Children's prosocial behavior
- Metacognitive understanding of learning processes
His work frequently examines children's developing understanding of teaching, learning, and knowledge acquisition, often employing experimental methodologies to probe cognitive mechanisms. A distinctive aspect of his research program is the active collaboration with Providence Children's Museum, where he investigates learning in informal settings through exhibit interactions and parent-child dynamics.
Dr. Sobel's recent publications (2013-2016) demonstrate a consistent focus on children's metacognitive understanding, informant reliability assessment, and causal reasoning development. His research shows how children develop increasingly sophisticated abilities to evaluate information sources, make causal inferences, and understand learning processes.
As an educator, Dr. Sobel teaches both introductory courses in Development and Cognition and advanced specialized courses including CLPS 0610 (Children's Thinking), CLPS 0620 (Social and Moral Development), CLPS 1610 (Cognitive Development), and various CLPS 1680 series courses covering Social Learning, Theory of Mind, Exploration and Explanation, and Play and Imagination. His teaching bridges cognitive development with connections to Cognitive and Social Psychology, Computational Modeling, Philosophy, and Atypical Development.
